Be a Watchman

Read Ezekiel 32-33:20
 
Ezekiel 33:7-9 “Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. 8 If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die, and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. 9 But if you warn them to repent, and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself.”
 
THE LORD designates Ezekiel as a watchman for Israel while the Jews are in Babylon. In truth, all prophets are watchmen. God gave them a message, and they needed to tell it. A watchman on a city’s wall announced both good news and bad news. This is certainly the prophet’s role. The LORD’s call to be a watchman is his emphasis to Ezekiel to remain vigilant to the LORD’s work. Sometimes, as in Ezekiel’s life, God would not speak to his prophet for many years. The Bible tells us that when God is silent, we must be alert to when he will speak.
   Ezekiel’s first task as a prophet/watchman had been to warn and promise God’s judgment on Jerusalem’s final destruction. Now his watchman role changes to announce good news. He will be proclaiming, as noted in our previous lesson, God’s restoration. Israel’s separated, “dry bones” will become unified and return to life in the true worship of God in Jerusalem.
   Yet, in this good news the watchman must continue to warn of sin’s threats. The devil always attacks, laying siege to God’s land. When a “sword” of sins’ assaults rose against Israel, the true watchman needed to warn. If a person heard and rejected the warning, his blood was on his own hands. If God’s watchman kept silent, God held the watchman accountable for sin’s destruction. The LORD placed a special emphasis on Ezekiel’s ministry, so both Ezekiel and the Jews would be alert to the threats and to know the good news. That’s still true, isn’t it? The church is God’s land at war with evil, and we all must be watchmen of the Word.
   Are you saved in Jesus? Then God has assigned you to be a watchman as the apostle Paul taught here: Acts 17:30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” The message has been given. Are you prepared to tell?
   Be thankful for God’s watchmen throughout the church’s history. And most of all, rejoice God has appointed Jesus to be your watchman. We have the sign of the Son’s resurrection as proof of his true message. Jesus is Savior now, because he obeyed the Father’s will to seek and to save us. The Son and the Spirit continue to watch over the church to prepare us for the day Jesus will be Judge. The Watchman has promised the good news of salvation is for all who believe. He shouts the truth from the cross, the empty tomb and the right hand of God.